~Two months later~
"Does Natsuki want to go to the local department store, after we've finished up here at the bank, to buy some new clothes with me?" Shizuru asked with a mischievous smile, as she approached the front counter of the bank she and Natsuki were currently visiting.
Natsuki felt a deep scowl cross her face, as she imagined Shizuru dressing her up in the most ridiculous outfits, like the chestnut-haired woman had already done to her once before about a month ago.
"No thank you, Shizuru. I know you more than well enough now, and I just know you're going to try to dress me up in the most silly and ridiculous outfit you can find. I mean honestly. A woman's corset and frilly skirt. Do I look like I should be dressed up in anything like that," Natsuki exclaimed as she waved a hand down across her body, showing off her slender build that deceptively hid well-toned muscles, that filled out her breeches and shirt quite nicely, and had Shizuru's eyes roving across her body in a very appreciative way.
"No...no, I don't suppose so. Natsuki looks...quite dashing already, just the way she is," Shizuru answered just a bit breathlessly, as her mind wandered to just how well-toned and well-endowed Natsuki's body truly was, and the wonderful and amazing things they did together with each other, when they were alone in her home.
"Ahem, ma'am. If you're quite ready to make your withdrawal, there is another person waiting in the line behind you," a gruff, impatient voice interrupted Shizuru's mental wandering, and she turned with a slight blush to the impatiently-waiting bank manager, who was standing behind a set of bars behind a long wooden counter.
Natsuki let an amused smirk cross her lips, pleased with herself that she'd been able to embarrass Shizuru in public for once. Honestly, the crimson-eyed woman got away with making her feel like the earth should open up beneath her, and swallow her whole way too often. So, it was always pleasantly amusing whenever she was able to turn the tables on the other woman, and gain the upper-hand.
Natsuki leaned against the wooden counter, as Shizuru and the bank manager conversed about how much of her funds Shizuru wanted to withdraw this month.
Natsuki herself had already pulled some funds from the account she'd set up at this banking location. The shiny new spurs on her new boots, along with her new cowboy hat, and the six-shooter she had hanging low in its holster around her waist, all attested to the mini shopping spree she'd allowed herself to go on, to replace all the items she'd previously lost. She didn't like spending too much of her hard-earned money, as it had taken more than enough years of her life to accumulate the funds she currently had, but it had been a necessity to replace all the items that had been taken from her.
Natsuki continued to lean against the counter, with her emerald-green eyes slowly roaming around the interior of the bank. There was a young lady holding a baby boy in her arms, waiting patiently in line behind Shizuru. Natsuki politely tipped her hat down at the woman in respectful greeting, which caused the young woman to blush a bit, as she smiled shyly back in greeting.
Natsuki continued to let her eyes roam until her attention was drawn to the entrance of the bank, where two men had just stepped into the building.
The way the men were silently looking around the inside of the building, with their eyes darting around quickly, as if they were checking out the layout of the place, immediately set Natsuki's nerves on edge.
The dark-haired woman slowly pushed herself up and off the counter, and as slowly as she dared she began reaching down to the weapon holstered at her waist.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you now, son," the deep, gruff voice of the older man who'd stepped into the building stopped Natsuki cold, as she looked up to see the barrel of a gun pointed straight at her head.
A scream was heard as the lady with the baby dropped to the floor, clutching her baby tightly to her chest, as she realized that she was now caught in the middle of a bank robbery.
Natsuki cursed under her breath, as Shizuru turned around and let out a loud gasp, as she took in the situation they now found themselves caught in.
The second man who'd entered in with the first one was a younger man, who looked to be roughly Natsuki's age. He acted a lot more nervous than the older man, as he held up a gun of his own and approached the counter, with the bank manager now-cowering behind the metal bars and wooden counter, that were his only barriers against the bank robbers.
"O-open the d-door, and l-let me in! And...and...then open the safe, and gimme all your cash!" the younger man demanded in a voice that nearly broke with his nervousness, as he moved passed Natsuki and Shizuru, to approach the barred door that separated him from the bank manager.
The bank manager looked like he wanted to wet his pants...and might have already done so, as he shakily rose to his feet to approach the door with a set of keys, to let in the criminal who was about to rob him blind.
Natsuki silently cursed again, as she took in the dire situation she and Shizuru were currently caught in. She'd gotten out of enough scrapes and dangerous situations on her own before, but now she had to make sure that Shizuru also got out of this mess unharmed...and she wasn't exactly sure just how she was going to do that, without getting herself injured in the process.
Oh well.
She wasn't going to let Shizuru get hurt or killed here, so really the only option left was to take these sorry sons of bitches out.
Natsuki slowly raised her hand, to tip the edge of her hat down over her eyes, as she slowly began moving forward with a slow, deadly swagger that had the older bank robber instantly steadying his gun at her head.
A soft desperate cry of "Natsuki!" reached her ears but she was too far gone now. These assholes were threatening Shizuru's life with guns...they were going to pay dearly for that.
"Now listen up here, son. I don't know just what weed for brains you got growing in that thar head of yours, but I do advise you stop moving...NOW...before I unload a mess 'o bullets into your brain," the older robber exclaimed, with just a hint of nervousness now showing in his voice.
He was used to most people cowering in fear whenever he robbed a bank. He had never had the experience of some crazy sonofabitch actually walking calmly towards him, like they was out on a fine summer day just enjoying the sunlight, and it was admittedly making him downright nervous.
Add to that, the damn woman with the baby must have alerted someone when she let out that infernal scream.
So, he figured he and his young partner only had a few precious minutes left, before the damn sheriff and his posse came bursting in here with their guns drawn, ready to put him six feet under.
Then there was this crazy asshole still calmly walking towards him with the most deadly and hardened, emerald-green eyes he'd ever seen in all his life.
He was beginning to think that he'd picked the wrong day, and most definitely the wrong town to do his bank robbing in.
"Now listen up, I'm gonna give you about three more seconds to drop that gun of yours, and to have your partner over there drop his. After that, I can't promise you just which one of us will be walking out of here alive...but it's probably gonna be me," Natsuki said in a low voice, with a smile that made the older robber actually quake a bit in his boots.
Well, fuck this shit.
He was going to shoot this son-of-a-bitch motherfucker right now!
Natsuki had anticipated this reaction, that she could clearly see showing in the bank robber's eyes. Most people got real nervous real fast, whenever you approached them like you had absolutely no fear in the world, and they usually cracked real fast when you did so.
It was a gamble and a more than a bit of a risk Natsuki knew, as she'd experienced her own fair share of backfires, when this strategy hadn't always panned out quite the way she'd wanted.
But fuck that this time.
Shizuru was involved now.
Natsuki was going to do everything within her power, to make sure the chestnut-haired woman she loved more than life, got out of this mess alive and well.
Natsuki saw the hunted look in the robber's eyes, as he made the decision to just shoot her and be done with it all.
She was already moving...
Faster than the blink of an eye...
Faster than the robber ever thought another human being could move...
So fast in fact, that by the time he registered the burning pain in both his shoulder-blades, and dropped his gun with a high-pitched scream, Natsuki had already placed two clean shots through both kneecaps of the younger robber, that dropped the young man like a sack of potatoes.
The younger robber's gun clattered across the floor, as he released his weapon to grab at his bloody and shattered kneecaps, with a scream that was no less high-pitched than his partner's.
Shizuru wasted no time in rushing forward to scoop up the stray gun into her slightly-trembling hands, where she then leveled the barrel of the weapon, at the head of the now wildly-weeping young robber on the ground.
Natsuki nodded her head with a smile of satisfaction at a job well-done, even as a small line of blood dribbled from the corner of her lips.
The young robber...that rat bastard...had managed to get off a lucky shot just before she'd shattered both his kneecaps.
The little bastard obviously had little true experience in firing a weapon, as his shot had initially seemed to go wide. But the lucky asshole's shot had still managed to make contact...lighting a line of fire, that punched straight through the side of her stomach.
Damn lucky shot...pretty clean one too...there wouldn't be much scarring as the bullet had passed clean through.
No scarring of course...if she lived to see the next morning, Natsuki thought woozily to herself, as her hand came up to her now profusely-bleeding stomach.
Her gun clattered to the floor from her now nerveless fingers, as she dropped to her knees with a painful thud.
Sounds of shouting as the sheriff and his deputies burst into the building, and the soft cry of Shizuru's panicked voice filled Natsuki's buzzing hearing.
Damn...I just got this shirt...it was a pretty nice shirt too...one of the few pieces of clothes, that Shizuru selected that were actually sensible and pretty nice...she's probably gonna throw a small fit, at having to stitch up a hole in my brand-new shirt, Natsuki thought dimly to herself with a small, sad smile just before her eyes rolled up into her head, and her body pitched backwards into a tight, desperately-clinging embrace.
Someone lightly shaking her body, and dampness landing on her face, caused Natsuki to briefly re-open her eyes, to look up into the tear-stained face of her Angel. She raised a slightly-trembling hand upwards, to tenderly cup Shizuru's sorrow-filled, tear-dampened face as she gave a soft, loving smile up to the woman who so completely owned her heart.
"I love you, Shizuru...always remember that...I love you."
Then the pain in her side flared...
Her vision went white...
And Natsuki Kuga knew no more.
Author's Corner - Hope you all enjoyed! Thank you all so very much for all your lovely reviews, and your warm welcome into the ShizNat futa fandom. You guys are Love~ =3
Once again, hope you all enjoyed this chap, and please review! I love hearing from you guys~ =D
~Yuri